Kotaku East

Blowfish. Osaka, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

The Yamamura House. Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Odin Sphere Going HD Next Year

It’s called Odin Sphere: Leiftrasir. One of the most beautiful PlayStation 2 games ever made is going HD. The newly announced Odin Sphere: Leiftrasir not only has HD graphics, but also new enemies and new bosses as well as tweaked gameplay. The HD version does keep the 2D scrolling gameplay, and there is a “Classic…

Tomorrow Is “Hand Job Day” in Japan [Update]

No, it’s not a national holiday by any stretch. But yes, the day does have an official super hero. Good to know! Update 7/21/15 12:48am – The nearly 18 minute short clip has been uploaded and added below. Japanese company Tenga, which makes a line of masturbation toys by the same name, is dubbing July…

Chinese Employees Relieve Stress with Studio Ghibli Masks

A service company in the Chinese city Handan held “No-Face Day,” which was inspired by the character No-Face from Studio Ghibli’s anime Spirited Away [Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images] According to ChinaFotoPress, the PR stunt day was designed to help relieve the pressure of smiling to customers and clients. Because nothing is as relaxing…

The Ant-Man Trailer Remade with Kids and Goofy Special Effects

Ant-Man is the latest Marvel comic book to get the movie treatment. You’ve probably seen the trailer. But have you seen this no-budget parody trailer from Thailand? As Coconuts Bangkok point out, YouTubers Heeha TV, which is hosted by Thai kids, made this parody, which matches up well with the original preview. That is, minus…

Track: Anti-Hero | Artist: Sekai no Owari | Album: Attack on Titan Soundtrack Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

This Anime Isn’t Really About Picking Up Girls In a Dungeon

If you randomly heard a title like “Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? ,” you’d probably expect to be in for an anime filled with fanservice and nothing but. Yet, while there is some degree of it in this one, it’s never really the focus of the show. In…

Let’s Play Dress Up With Persona 4

Persona 4: Dancing All Night has a lot of awesome remixes of your favorite Persona 4 songs. You know what else it has? A ton of costumes to dress everyone up in. And while I may be partial to those of a certain young detective, every Persona 4 cast member (except poor Margaret) has at…

Artist: Kyu Sakamoto | Track: Sukiyaki | Album: Sukiyaki (Single) Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Widescreen Can Make NES Games Better

The classic 1980s baseball game Bases Loaded is coming to the PS4. And it looks like Bases Loaded! But widescreen. Via Inside, you can see in the above screenshot what the PS4 version will look like. Compare with a clip of the NES version below. Bases Loaded was originally released in arcades, but as a…

Handsome Men, Goofy Anime

Gakuen Handsome is a silly game. Silly on purpose. The same looks true for the anime version. The Boys’s Love title, which is set in all-boys school, is getting an original anime video this August in Japan. Titled Gakuen Handsome: The Animation, the 30-minute DVD is priced at 2,980 yen (around US$25) and features the…

The Cute World of Japanese Warning Signs

Why make boring looking warning signs when you can make cute ones? Seriously. Photographer Luca Eandi has been uploading sign photos to the Tumblr blog Signs of Japan Many are adorable, and provide a nice look at Japanese graphic design and visual culture. The sign warns people not to enter because the construction site behind…

Fighting Over Senpai

What do you get when you combine martial-arts style wire work, green screens, and notice-me-senpai? This, apparently. Akihabara idol group Dempagumi.inc appears in this Mets soft drink spot, with all the members vying for their senpai’s attention. If you’re curious how this was made, watch the behind-the-scenes clip below. To contact the author of this…

What’s Next for Arc System Works After BlazBlue

With one of its major IPs drawing to a close, the master fighting game maker is looking to something new. BlazBlue: Centralfiction is the latest addition to the BlazBlue series of fighting games and the “Finishing chapter to the Story of Blue.” For developer Arc SystemWorks, the Blazblue series has, alongside Guilty Gear, been one…

Garden. Uji, Kyoto, Japan. By Brian Ashcraft. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!

Pokkén Tournament is Not Tekken With Pokémon

The announcementthat a Pokémon/Tekken crossover game was coming took everyone by surprise. But don’t go into it expecting just a Tekken game with a Pokémon skin on it. “It’s a solid versus game, but at its core, it’s an action game for Pokémon fans.” Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada explained in an interview with Weekly…

Japanese Political Protest Turned into a Photoshop Meme

Earlier today in Japan, a special security committee okayed legislation that expands the Japanese military’s role. People outside the Diet building protested as did lawmakers did inside the assembly. And folks on Twitter? They made memes. This is a serious moment in Japanese history as the bills are a reinterpretation of the country’s pacifist constitution,…

Not Finishing Devil’s Third Was Never an Option

While it seems somewhat unclear as to who is publishing Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki’s latest game, Devil’s Third in the West, the game will definitely be out in Japan next month. Thank goodness. After its initial announcement in 2010, Devil’s Third was dropped by its publisher, THQ. After seemingly getting locked in development limbo…

When Official Attack on Titan Cosplay Looks Strange

Hrm. Maybe it’s me, but those proportions sure seem, well, off. The Attack on Titan live-action movie just premiered at the the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. Twitter user Paul A-D was on hand, snapping these photos of the event’s official cosplayers. [Photo: Paul A-D] Nice pantsuits. Check out Paul A-D’s Twitter page for more…